User blog:AndrewBrauer/Chick Figures - Mighty Neckbeard Review
So with the most recent announcement of a four part series spinoff titled Chick Figures hitting the waves of Dick Figures fans, we were all curious about how this would turn, considering the season five episode "Chick Figures" ended up becoming one of the most popular episodes of Dick Figures yet (and a personal favorite of mine) which brought the creators to make a spinoff as part of Mondo's partnership with Fusion for "Like, Share, Die" luckily for those who couldn't get the television channel or didn't care about any of the other shorts involved, Mondo decided to post the first episode of Chick Figures online. The episode is titled "Mighty Neckbeard" as it follows Lavender and Scarlet going to a cosplay convention with the rest of the nerds involved (and an advantage for them being the only women there) with the convention. However, this is interrupted when a fat online critic going by the name of the title for this episode, decides to wreck havoc and ruin everyone's time with his powers (and opinions) leaving our heroines to save the day. If this is the direction Ed and Zack want to go, then it's a worthy one because this is a fantastic episode even if your not familiar with the Dick Figures series, as Chick Figures has the potential to stand as it's own standalone series. Even though we are aware that Scarlet and Lavender are the gender bents of Red and Blue, their character qualities are enough to make them more than just a gender bent version but as *gasp* actual characters. Scarlet plays more of the dim witted idiot who has a hot body and fun attitude which perfectly suits her, while Lavender is a lot more self-aware and strong willed than Blue ever was (especially with her epic nerd speech which instantly made me like her even more), not to mention an excellent Batgirl. Speaking of cosplay, it was a cool idea having this episode in a convention similar to the likes of Comic con, even if it never goes into anything deep, with Scarlet and Lavender content with being the only women there and enjoying it (Scarlet saying "it's hammer time" was without a doubt my favorite line in the episode, perfectly delivered) while kicking ass. Now we get to our antagonist "Mighty Neckbeard" and normally villains for Dick Figures are pretty weak usually having poor motivations and no real character, thankfully Mighty Neckbeard represents more of an idea and less of a character in a way that works for this episode giving us some funny undertones of the Internet most of us will relate too. As Mighty Neckbeard is basically any internet troll you've encountered online or YouTube critic giving their opinion in a way that just pisses everyone off, his lines of dialogue worked really well as did the voice actor (although he sounds more like a skinny white nerd than a fat slob, just something minor to point out) portraying him. Now for a plot like this, you would have to make sure it doesn't just seem like a situation not fit for a woman but rather a man, luckily this episode utilizes our female duo in a way that fits the scenario and provides light comedy. If I have any issues, it does feel a bit too short (only lasting 2:40, which is a little shorter than usual) and the end joke with Lavender showing some of her boobs to get the men's attention was not bad, but quite sexist and took me out of the episode a little. Still, there's a lot to like here in a highly enjoyable debut for Chick Figures, I hope this last for more than four episodes, because there is real potential here and I can't wait to see more. 9/10 Category:Blog posts